28. What are some ‘golden rules’ of writing business letters?

1. Give you letter a heading so as reader can see what a topic is.

2. Decide what you are going to say before the start to write.

3. Use short sentences.

4. Use short words that everyone can understand.

5. Put each separate idea in a separate paragraph.

6. A business letter should be:

• Clear (your reader must be able to see exactly what you mean);

• Complete (must give all the necessary information);

• Concise (it is not time to waste);

• Courteous (reader should be addressed in a sincere, polite tone);

• Correct (any mistakes in grammar, punctuation and spelling may get a bad impression).

29. What are the major stages of writing a report? What is the structure of a report?

Reports can serve various purposes. Reports can:

• Inform;

• Provide a background information;

• Provide recommendations or indicate a course of action.

Reports can be transmitted in the different forms/ways:

• Conversations;

• Letters;

• Memos;

• Special forms;

• Separate documents of several pages.

The preparation and writing of a report falls into several stages:

1. Assembling the material;

2. Planning the report;

3. Drafting the report;

4. Editing the report.

Also, report can be written on hand without any preparations.

General structure of a report:

1. Introduction;

2. Body of the report;

3. Terminal section.

Introduction should include:

• Objectives;

• General procedure (background information, major concept, ideas);

• Presentation materials.

Body of the report should include:

• Developing ideas;

• Illustrating facts without making decisions.

Terminal section should include:

• Conclusions;

• Recommendations if asked for;

• Appendices.

30. How do the customers find out about the range of goods offered by the firm and their prices?

Here are some activities:

• Direct mail;

• Leaflets and brochures;

• Catalogues;

• Websites;

• Advertisement;

• Operator at call center.

32. What does it mean ‘to think marketing’? What does swot mean?

To think marketing we must have a clear idea of:

• What the customer need;

• What the customer want;

• What causes them to buy;

• What the product is to customer.

The company that believes in marketing is forward-thinking and doesn’t rest on its past achievements: it must be aware of its strengths and weaknesses as well as the opportunities and threats it faces in the market. SWOT analysis is an evaluation tool.

33. What aspects of a product do they focus on in marketing?

What the product is to customer:

• Functional;

• Technological;

• Economic + aesthetic;

• Emotional;

• Psychological aspects.

Also every product must possess a ‘unique selling proposition’ (USP) – features (what is the product) and benefits (what customer get, buying the product) that make it unlike any other product in its market.

Product is not just a collection of components, but includes its design, quality and reliability.

34. What does it mean ‘to position a product’?

Product positioning means how a company would like a product to be seen in relation to the other products, or to competing products.

Position a product company utilizes traditional marketing placement strategies (i.e. product, price, place, promotion, and packaging).

The product is not just a collection of components, but includes its design, quality, and reliability.

Price is deciding what prices to charge according to the value of a product, its quality, the ability of the customer to pay, the volume of sales required, the level of market saturation and the prices charged by the competition.

Place is deciding how product will be distributed and where people will buy it. Decision has to be made about the channels of distribution and delivery arrangements.

Promotion is presenting the product to the customer. Promotion involves considering the packaging and presentation of the product, its image, the product name, advertising, and slogans, brochures, literature, price lists, after-sales services and training, trade exhibitions or fairs, public relations, publicity, and personal selling.

Packaging includes all the materials used to protect and present a product before it is sold.